Hartford Employee To Reimburse City For $3,000 Funeral Charge

HARTFORD — A city administrator has agreed to reimburse Hartford the $3,000 charged to a city purchasing card in December to help pay for the funeral of a public works employee's daughter, the mayor's office said Friday.

Hartford's internal audit commission has been reviewing the $3,000 payment to Carmon Community Funeral Homes and whether Mayor Pedro Segarra had authorized it. Funeral services for 23-year-old Kamesha Mills were held a week after she was shot to death Dec. 7 in Manchester.

Kenneth Blue, Mills' father, has been employed with the city since 2000. Blue's niece also died in the triple homicide.

Mills' funeral expenses were charged on the "p-card" assigned to the assistant of acting Chief Operating Officer Albert Ilg, city officials said.

In a legal opinion to the audit commission Friday, Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee Borges wrote that Jose Sanchez, director of Hartford's management and budget office, had "directed" the assistant to make the $3,000 payment, but that a few administrators, including Controller Leigh Ann Ralls, had authorized the transaction, which violated the city's p-card policy.

As for the mayor's involvement, Kee Borges said Segarra told her that he had "agreed the City would contribute $3,000 if funds could be identified," but that "he expected an invoice to be presented for payment and to be told how the payment would be made in advance."

Kee Borges continued: "... even though the Mayor did not authorize use of a P-card to pay funeral expenses, it was nevertheless inappropriate to authorize payment of funeral expenses for an employee's family member using City money. City monies should only be used for a valid public or official purpose."

Segarra said in a statement Friday that "given the unimaginable circumstances, I felt it was only right to help a long-time employee who lost his daughter and niece so tragically." He added that his staff has "corrected the issue and I understand why they made the decision."

Sanchez, the department head, will reimburse the $3,000 with his own money, said Maribel La Luz, the mayor's spokeswoman. No other disciplinary action is expected to be taken, she said.

Bruce Rubenstein, chairman of the internal audit commission, said, "Mr. Sanchez himself should not be bearing the sole responsibility. The responsibility should be borne equally by Mayor Segarra, Miss Ralls and Mr. Sanchez."

"I'm volunteering to pay," Sanchez said Friday afternoon. "I don't believe that I should pay, but I am volunteering to pay if that's what it will take to keep this from becoming anything worse for anybody in the organization."

Sanchez said he and others felt it was appropriate to use city funds to help Blue afford Mills' funeral. He also said it was Ralls, "a good woman," who recommended charging the city p-card as the quickest way to make a payment. Ralls could not be reached for comment.

"We did what we thought was right at a time when everyone's hearts were broken," Sanchez said. "We were seeing a fellow employee suffering and didn't have the money to bury his daughter."

Mills' mother, Janice Jones-Mills, died eight months before the December shooting.

"I am very proud to give the $3,000 back to the city for a good cause," Sanchez said. "I'm not a rich guy, but it's a small price to pay because I can live with my conscience."